From an undisclosed distillery on Orkney that is almost certainly not Scapa. Mmmkay.
Orkney 15yo 2006/2022 (57.1%, Thompson Bros. bottled for Milroys of Soho, 280b): nose: fruit eau-de-vie (plum or apricot), a whiff of musk, and a dash of melted candlewax. Is this from Sutherland? Allegedly not, yet it seems to turn waxier with each sip, offering lavender-scented plasticine, after a minute or two. Then, it becomes more vegetal, although it is twigs, more than leaves, promising a certain bitterness. This feels hardly mature yet -- a tired cask, possibly. Old oilskins emerge. The second nose puts the emphasis on those oilskins, adding new sandals, with leather straps, and rubber outsoles. All the same, the fruity plasticine aroma comes through, in the end. Mouth: the provenance is a little more obvious, here, with a thin, earthy smoke that immediately assails the mouth's every square millimetre. We have lavender twigs and dried heather, hinting at a party on the moor, plum juice and chewy dried smoked apricot slices, some candlewax, and even a tiny note of spent wick. The second sip is juicier, the longer it stays in the mouth, a blend of apricot juice, lavender laundry detergent, fruit jellies, and a sprinkle of ash. It reads odd, but it works a treat. Finish: fruit, wax and smoke. The strength is robust, not overpowering, close to cracked black pepper on a plum paste, if such a thing came out of a tube. The second sip has a pinch of ash, and a certain bitterness alongside the clearly-fruity overtone. As that fruit fades out, it is the dryness of ash that lingers, then menthol-and-eucalyptus fruit jellies (y'know, the green ones). This is a good hiking dram for the hipflask. 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, JS)
Happy birthday, ruckus!
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